Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill targeting the use of bathrooms by transgender students at state schools and universities.
The bill, which is a part of larger piece of legislation called Senate Bill 104, requires schools and universities to designate bathrooms and other similar public facilities for exclusive same-sex use, based on students’ sex assigned at birth.
State Rep. Adam Bird, a Clermont County Republican, told Signal Statewide an aide in the governor’s office informed him that DeWine had signed the bill on Tuesday. The governor’s office announced the bill signing Wednesday morning, about 40 minutes after this article published, but didn’t issue a statement explaining DeWine’s reasoning.
Republican lawmakers have described the bill as a common-sense way to protect girls and women in places like bathrooms and locker rooms.
But Democrats and LGBTQ-rights activists have said it puts transgender students at risk and needlessly singles out an already vulnerable group. Officials at several state universities previously told Signal Statewide they weren’t aware of bathroom use being an issue at their schools. The ACLU of Ohio has indicated it may sue to challenge the bill.
SB104, which cleared the state legislature on Nov. 14, is the latest move from state Republicans to pass transgender restrictions involving students and minors.
Late last year, Republican lawmakers passed a law barring doctors and other practitioners from providing gender-related treatment to minors, and barring transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.
DeWine vetoed the bill in late December, citing the provisions dealing with transgender athletes and prompting intense criticism from Republicans, including President-Elect Donald Trump. But Republican lawmakers overturned it in January. They were able to do so because they hold at least two-thirds of the seats in the state House and Senate. A Franklin County judge initially put the law in response to a lawsuit from the ACLU of Ohio, but later allowed it to go into place while the legal challenge plays out in court.
